At last, the Obama skeet shooting mystery is solved

When the New Republic quizzed Gun-Controller-In-Chief Barack Obama about his personal knowledge of firearms, he figured he was among friends, and dropped one of those casual whoppers that he thought nobody would ever bother to check: “Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time. Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.”

This led to several embarrassing days of White House spokespeople assuring us that sure, the President blows away clay pigeons all the time, he wouldn’t lie about something like that. However, none of them could produce a single photo of Robobama blazing away.

Having passed a few enjoyable minutes poking fun at Obama for this flimsy pander, I found myself wondering why his drones didn’t take the obvious out, and point out that he did not say “I do skeet shooting all the time.” That’s clearly the impression he wanted to give, but when backed against the Wall of Truth, he could have simply said that he meant visitor to Camp David are generally known to enjoy skeet shooting, while admitting that he personally doesn’t indulge in the pastime very often.

But no, this whole charade dragged out for days, until Jana Winter at Fox News decided to load up the Mystery Machine with gas and Scooby Snacks, setting forth in search of anyone who could substantiate a single instance of Obama shooting skeet. Lo and behold, she finally found one, but her source didn’t exactly regale her with stories of epic gunplay:

News of President Obama’s apparently long-secret fondness for skeet shooting came as a surprise to those who say they have witnessed the president’s “awkward” attempts at pinging the (clay) pigeons.

This has only happened with the president at Camp David, at most, a couple of times, according to a source who says he has been to the retreat on a half-dozen visits with Obama.

“The only time he shot skeet was for President’s Cup,” said the source, referring to a shooting competition tradition involving the presidential Marine guards. “I was there. He stayed for about five minutes, and couldn’t leave fast enough.”

Skeet shooting “is very hard,” said the source. “Especially for someone not used to guns … He couldn’t have been more uncomfortable.”

The source said a friend of his recalled Obama skeet shooting one other time at Camp David — very early on in his first term.